Illuminated sign



June 9., 1931- A. K. WOOD ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed Feb. 17, 1950 dad-QM Patented June 9, 1931 star ARCHK. WOOD, or JEANNETTE, PnNNsYLvANrA, ASSIGNOR To MCKEE! GLASS corn 7 mean PAnY, or JEANNETTE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA- ILLUMINATED' SIGN Application filed February 17, 1930; Serial No. 28,884;

My invention relates to improvements in the glass letters and characters which constitute elements in illuminated signs, of the sort commonly displayed for advertising purposes along the streets of cities. object of my inprovements is economy in production.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. I is a view in perspective of the article with which the invention has to do; Fig. II is a diagrammatic View in side elevation ofa mold employed in the production of the article,

as in the practice of my invention I produce it; Fig. III is a view in section, on the plane indicated by the line III-III, Fig. II; Fig. IV is a View similar to Fig. III, and illustrating a modification in mold structure.

The article with which I have to do, illustrated in Fig. I, is a now familiar article of commerce. It consists of a sheet of glass 1 of translucent nature, commonly opal glass. The sheet ordinarily is about an eighth of an inch thick and may be of a few inches in length and breadthsay six inches by eight. The otherwise level sheet is embossed: portions are raised to form embossed characters, ordinarily in the form of a letter 2, and so adapted to enter into the make-up of a'legible sign. In the make-up of the article the sheet of glass is arrangedbehind a mask of sheet metal in which spaces have been out, after the manner of a stencil-sheet. The spaces in the mask correspond in shape, size, and position to the embossed portions of'the sheet of glass. In the assembly the em bossed characters extend into and project from the spaces in the mask, and. those portions only of the glass sheet, illuminated from behind, are visible, and, being visible, constitute the effective part of the sign. i Ordinarily such a sheet as in an exemplary way is illustrated in Fig. I is formed initially as a smooth and unembossed sheet. The sheet after it has been formed is laid upon a shaper-block of iron or steel provided with a smooth face, from which the desired character rises in relief. To this shaper-block the initially level and continuous sheet is, under the softening influence of fiame, caused to The shape itself. Having been so shaped, thesheet is allowed to harden again. This procedure involves the initial shaping and the annealing of thel'cvelsheet, and then the subsequent reshaping of the sheet to produce theraised character or characters, and the necessarily ensuing second annealing. Al tern'atively, the article of Fig. I may be shaped ina mold, but unless the mold faces be formed of such superior material andfinished with such laborious care as'to be very expensive, the outer or raised surface of the molded article will have to be fire-polished to prepare it for service. The exposed outer or raised surface of the article must be exceedingly smooth. The article. of my invention is in this and in all other respects of best quality and is produced more economically than an equally good article may otherwise lac-produced."

I blow the'article a mold, the ultimate outer or raised surface innermost, shaped under pneumatic pressure, free of contact with any mold wall; and consequently of unblemished smoothness, and I form the mold wall to include a smooth face from which the desired character rises in relief. And in a single shaping step I produce from the plas-' tic glass the ultimate. shape Since it is the ultimate inner-surface of the sheet which is formed in actual contact with the mold wall, that wall need not be formed of such costly material so. laboriously finished as would of glass blown to the thickness of a sheet 1 Within this mold cavity, as indicated at 5, is

shaped to the inner faces of the panels 3. At

the edges the panels may be formed with sharp-edged protrusions 6, which will form in the blown articlelines of weakness. When the article has been blown and has set within the mold, the mold may be opened, and then the article of Fig. I, produced in this single blowing operation may be severed from the remainder of the blown article. That face 5 of the finished article of Fig. I from which the character 2 rises is the face which is formed under the pneumatic pressure of the blowing operation, free of contact with any solid wall, and is of unblemished smoothness. I characterize this a blown surface. I

Figs. II and III show that the panel 3 may be removable and replaceable as a member of the mold wall, to the end that, using a single mold frame, interchangeability of a plurality of mold panels 3 may afford capacity to produce sign elements bearing a variety of particular charactersthe several letters of the alphabet, for example.

Fig. III shows a convenient arrangement, ot' a narrow-chambered mold, with two panelsS set in' opposite walls, and each adapted V to produce a sign element such as that shown in Fig. I, with choice of what the particular character may be. Fig. IV shows a mold of 5 rectangular cross-section having such panels let into each of its four walls; and from this variety in showing it will be manifest that the mold chamber may be variously shaped, and with variety in the number and position 0f the panels 3.

I claim as my invention: An element for an illuminated sign consisting of a plate of glass in which is formed a character in relief, the outer surface from yvhich the character rises being a blown surace. a

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

' ARCH K. WOOD. 

